


Sanders Sides: The Movie

by PaperHatCollection



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Love used as in a brotherly bond, Sympathetic Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, They both do bad things thou, can't make animatics so I wrote this, it's SU:The Movie with SS characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperHatCollection/pseuds/PaperHatCollection
Summary: Have you heard the tale?The tale of Thomas?Ever compassionate,Can you imagine it?But not every Gem is as happy to hear the news as some.(Steven Universe: The Movie, featuring Creativitwins Spinels)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Here We Are in the Tale Of Thomas

**Author's Note:**

> Can't draw all the frames you would need for an animatic? Write em' out. I wrote this all in one sitting, so fingers crossed! And because it won't come up in the fic at all... Pink Diamond (White's replacement) is Emile, Green Diamond (Blue's replacement) is Remy, and Red Diamond (Yellow's replacement and off color Orange Diamond) is whatever side Thomas reviles next. We'll just have to see how that turns out.

Thomas

Everyone believes in 

Everyone believes in

Thomas 

All across the universe

Ever compassionate

Can you imagine it? 

Even with us at our worst 

Hybrid son of a Diamond 

Human son to the King 

What a revelation 

He's a revolution 

A Gem that loves and grows 

Thomas 

Have you heard the tale of 

Have you heard the tale of 

Thomas 

Always putting others first 

Can you imagine it? 

Ever Compassionate 

Thomas Sanders

♢♢♢♢

Reforming an entire empire took time. Years, and _years_ of time. _Especially_ when said empire was spread out over all of the known universe. And after years and years of work, (and having to reject staying on his Dad’s throne over on Geode, Homeworld to the Gems) Thomas Sanders was _finally_ coming home.

To Earth.

When the light of the warp pad finally faded, Thomas found himself in what he immediately decided to dub the ‘Dome Garden’. He’d heard about it from his friends, even seen pictures sent by Talyn and Joan, but _seeing_ it? With his _own_ eyes? Now that was another story altogether. Light filtered in from above through blue tinted glass, a blue dome above a circular room filled with plants. Thomas reached out and felt one of the plant leafs between his fingers, admiring the purple flowers growing on this one. He was pretty sure they were Virgil’s favorite.

“What took you so long?”  
The only thing keeping Thomas from jumping right out of his skin was years of practice living with the Diamonds. They’d never really needed to announce their own presence before, so if you missed the chime they’d just start talking and expect you to know they were there. But, speak of the devil, Thomas found Joan waiting behind him when he looked back. He couldn’t have stopped the grin on his face if he’d wanted to, and trust him, he didn’t.

Thomas hugged Joan before he could even get out an answer for the question with, “The Diamonds.” Thomas sighed, pulling back from the hug with a sigh. “They _reeeally_ want me to move in.”

“Why?” Joan asked, as he stepped back to collect a book of a beanbag chair tucked away in one corner of the room. If Thomas had to guess, they’d been camping out here waiting for his return. At least they’d had a nice view while they’d waited.

“Because they want to smother me with attention 24/7.” Thomas explained, rolling his eyes. They got he wasn’t his Dad, they really did, but… Thomas found his hand drifting down to where the Purple Diamond was embedded where his belly button _would_ have been, wondering if King had felt the same way about the other Diamonds before he’d run off. Probably not, seeing as how they’d never listened to his Dad like they were listening to him _now._

“Sounds fun.” Joan said, as he pressed a hand to the little purple diamond panel next to the door. Which, was also diamond shape in and off itself. Thomas avoided rolling his eyes again as the stone doors opened, and Joan added, “Don’t see what’s so bad about _that.”_

“No, it _doesn't.”_ Another sigh from Thomas. “Trust me on this one.” he said, right as he stepped out the door and into the fresh air. He stopped and took a deep breath, held it, and let it back out slowly. Truely, there was nothing like the beachfront air he’d grown up in. Despite missing this place every day since he’d left, the homesickness really hit him hard _now._ Now that he was _back,_ and that he could finally see all he’d missed. He glanced off at the view of the ocean, just visible over the roof of his house, and took another deep breath. “So,” he asked Joan as they stepped out next to him. “Are you gonna go through with ‘it’?”

“Duh, of _course.”_ Joan said with a laugh, and a familiar twinkle in his eye that Thomas spotted when he’d looked back. He’d known Joan since they were kids, back when Thomas didn’t even _have_ his powers yet, and he’d always known that twinkle met Joan had something _fun_ planned. “I’ve always wanted to go to space camp!”   
“I’m _pretty_ sure this is a little _beyond_ space camp,” Thomas said back, following Joan down the stairs and around his house to the balcony. “And also, you’ve been to _actual space_ before. _Multiple_ times. Plus you’ve done _way_ cooler stuff then just camp there.” They came to a stop at the door to Thomas’s house, and Thomas paused to give Joan a small punch on his shoulder. “Give yourself a little credit there Joan.”

“Okay, _fine.”_ Joan flashed him a grin back, grabbing the handle on the glass door. “I guess saying I’m gonna go work for NASA’s pretty okay too. Tayln’s already over there, I just stopped by to see you before I had to go.” They turned and stepped inside, heading to where they’d left a duffle bag on the floor. “I bet those guys have _never_ got a resume like mine before. Besides, I get all the freeze dried ice cream I can eat.”

“But,” Thomas stopped to do some quick calculations in his head, whilst glancing at a calendar on the wall just to be sure. “Valerie Killer and the Suspects are playing tonight, you’ll miss her rock concert.”   
“Already gave her a ‘good luck’ and ‘break a leg’.” Joan promised, shrugging his bag onto his shoulder.. “Sides, we all know she’s gonna do _amazing,_ she’ll be just fine.” A buzzing sound came from Joan’s pocket, where he fished out his phone and checked something. “That’s Tayln, I’ve got to go now, but hey man,” Joan stepped in for another hug. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.” Thomas said. One quick hug later, and Joan was rushing back out the door. Thomas followed a few seconds later to shout, “Don’t forget to tell everyone space used to be super scary and dangerous, but it’s safe now!”

“I will!” Joan shouted at the beach, waving goodbye.

Thomas sighed. Contently, this time.

“Here we are in the future.” Thomas mutter to himself, letting his gaze pull up to the sky, leaning on the railing as he did so. Far above him the sun shone down on the temple, through clear blue skies that he’d missed _so_ much. A butterfly fluttered past. Thomas let his smile stretch across his face. “Here we are in the future and it’s bright, nothing to fear, no one to fight.”

Thomas ran back indie and did something he’d longed to do for _years-_ he jumped right back onto his bed and spread out, letting himself relax. He sent out a wave of purple sparkles with the move, before letting them pull back and encase him. He lifted himself up into the air, pumping one fist into the air. “I can’t believe we’ve come so far, Happily ever after here we are!”

Dropping back down to sit on the bad, Thomas looked at the purple light he was holding in his hand. He felt his smile drop briefly drop from his face. He reflected on the journey that had brought him year, the trials that had tested him over and over again. Of Purple Diamond, then his dad’s chosen name and form as Tanzanite, or more commonly known to his friends, King. “Once upon a time, I thought I’d always be in my father’s shadow. Answering for her crimes I thought I’d always be in an endless battle.”

He thought of the Corrupted Gems, the foes and ships Geode had sent, _Deceit,_ his final battle against the other Diamonds. Then he thought of how far he’d come, and he allowed a small smile to cross his face. “Until I began to hone,” He summoned his shield, holding it up into the light. “A power all my own. That I could feel growing stronger every day-” He turned the shield into a bubble that encased him, summoning first the spikes that encircled it like a mace than switching back to the smooth version. “And now I’ve saved the day,”

“Not just that- the whole _galaxy’s_ saved!” Thomas sang as he let himself roll right down the stairs. He laughed, safe within his bubble, passing the portrait of his father he had framed by the stairs before landing on the bottom floor and letting the bubble pop. “We did it!” he cheered raising his fists into the air before dropping them into the pockets of his varsity jacket. With one last glance at his home, he walked right out the front door to the path outside. “Here we are.” he mutters to himself. “Here we are in the future.”

There were people on the beach- not just anyone, he realized when he got closer. Virgil and his mom, the latter resting on a pool chair whilst Virgil fiddled with a bass. As he got closer Thomas held up a hand and waved to them, calling out, “Hey Virg! Hey, mom!”

“Welcome home, honey.” his mom greeted back, glancing back up at Thomas with a smile on her face. “This one’s been so anxious to see you home- do tell him you didn’t get ‘shattered’ on an asteroid somewhere in the middle of space, will you?”

“Virgil, I didn’t get shattered on an asteroid somewhere in the middle of space.” Thomas repeated. “I’m right here, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”

“Yeah, I um-,” Virgil muttered, before smiling at him. A real, open, _honest_ smile, not like the fake ones he used to give. “Thomas, guess what?” he asked, holding up his instrument whilst continuing to talk anyways. “I’m learning to play the bass!” he explained, whilst pronouncing it like the fish.

“I keep telling him it’s ‘bass’.” his mom whispered to him.

“Pfft.” Virgil went, clearly having heard her anyways. “Excuse me, B-A-S-S spells bass.” Virgil repeated.

His mom laughed. “Alright alright- you’re the boss.”

Virgil grinned again, a familiar twinkle in his eye. “Heck yeah, I am!” he said, before jumping up and onto one of the large rocks scattered around the beach. He began to play as he looked off into the distance, and, having clearly heard Thomas earlier, began to sing.

“Once upon a time I only lived to be of Purple Diamond’s service,” Virgil sung, twirling and bowing as he did. This form- the same one he’s taken while Thomas had fought the Diamonds all those years ago, had a thick jacket with purple patches. Currently, it was open, and the shirt underneath was (purposely) torn to expose the purple Pearl where his belly button would have been. Thomas remembered a time when Virgil had done everything he could to hide his gemstone.

Virgil leapt from the stone, walking along the beach without ever missing a beat in his song. “Til’ the day the two of us snuck down to be on this planet’s surface,” Virgil turned to face the ocean, a fond, calm look on his face. “We become out _fantasy,_ and I was sure he’d set me free,”

Another twirl, and this time Virgil stopped while facing the temple. “But in the end I guess I never left his side, and after love and loss and all the tears that I cried, I find that-” he looked to Thomas, giving him a nod. “Here we are in the future.”

Thomas was just starting to applaud Virgil when he felt something nudge his back. When he glanced back he found the familiar shape of a lion behind him, as purple as Thomas had always known him. Except, of course for his black nose, and the white on his paws that looked like he was wearing socks, and his gray belly.

“Hey buddy.” Thomas coo’d, reaching out and petting Lion’s mane. He could feel the way his hand nearly sunk into the mane, into the pocket dimension within. Come to think of it, actually… Thomas glanced back at his mother and Virgil once more. “I’m heading into town,” he explained. “See you at the concert tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Virgil promised.

Thomas made sure to take a deep breath of fresh air before jumping into Lion’s mane, and winding up in the purple fields on the other side. Atop a hill was a large tree, growing around what remained of the treasures his dad had left him. In the distance was a much smaller tree that Thomas began heading to, humming without using any of his extra air supply. When the ‘ground’ began to sink under his feet, Thomas knew he had made it.

His jump out, however, was less of a graceful landing and more of a stumble. Briefly, he registered the “Woah!” of surprise from Lars. But instead of hitting the ground, Thomas suddenly registered that he was sitting in a chair at a table with the off-colors. He blinked, and looked up to see Patton smiling back at him.

“I saved you a seat.” Patton said. “Nice of you to drop in on us like this- but fall’s not for awhile yet.” 

“Nice to see you too, Patton.” Thomas said back. The cat hoodie currently tied around Patton’s shoulders, the tail ends of the sleeves perfectly framing the two gemstones on his chest. Thomas had always liked the way the two gems kinda looked like a heart with they were originated- the lapis one was even mostly-upside down to make it work. “So, what’d I miss?”

“You’re just in time for my favorite part of the story.” Patton promised with a wink, lifting one hand. The water from within everyone’s glasses raised with it, then formed into a replica of the inside of the sky arena before the way. “Once upon a time, a Lapis Lazuli came to Earth with a Quartz soldier,” the water shifted to show the two, and a splash of pink lemonade from Lar’s own drink was used for the Rose Quartz as Patton continued, forming the rebellions fight into the scene- with Lapis in the way of the attack. “Lazuli’s deadly fate was set until the Ruby rushed in to hold him-”

The water Lapis and lemonade Quartz collided in the air, creating Patton in his earliest mismatch of clothes. “Suddenly they were fusing- beautiful, strange, confusing.” Patton smiled fondly at the image, lifting his free hand to his gems. “And there I was. A bundle of questions, so naive-”

Patton flicked his hand down, the drinks returning to their respective cups. “And if you’d told me this I never would’ve believed you then but _now-_ ” Patton stopped too laugh, hugging himself and spinning around in a circle. “Here we are in the future!”

“You sure earned your happily ever after, Pat.” Thomas promised, right as Lars placed a yummy looking cake down right in front of him. “Thanks Lar’s- hey, by the way, as anyone seen Logan? I haven't seen him yet.”

“Knowing him? He’ll be at Little Homeworld.” Patton explained, glancing off into the distance where Thomas could see the towers of the Gem’s new home away from home. Thomas could feel pride bubbling in his chest at the sight. “You should _see_ the work he’s been putting in- why don’t you, come to think of it? Go ahead and take the warp- the one that used to be it the forest should be hooked up over there by now.”

As it turned out, it had not yet been hooked up.

“Careful!” Logan yelped, grabbing the back of Thomas’s jacket and pulling him back onto stable ground- as stable as ground could be when it being held aloft by rope. “Oh, and welcome back.” Logan added, once they both had a hold on their own ropes. Logan held out his free hand, which Thomas mimicked immediately with his.

“Pew Pew- one, two, three-” they said at the same time, first making finger guns at each other before bumping into each other's fists. The handshake was a long story that led to Logan finally accepting he and humans weren't so different after all.

“Thanks, Logan!” Thomas said, “I guess I’m just in time, huh?”

“As always.” Logan nodded, lifting a hand as he projected a screen full of statistics and data in front of them from the Sapphire gemstone on his forehead. Back on Geode, most Sapphire’s would would rather turn dull than ever do such a thing that they’d see a ‘below them’- the ones on the gem homeworld were also all half Logans height, with big poofy dressed and hairdos, and of course one eye. Considering Logan was tall, thin, wore simple professional earth clothing (tie included) and had _two_ whole eyes, Thomas didn’t think he really cared what other Sapphire’s thought was ‘proper’. Anymore.

“As of this moment, Little Homeworld is 83.7 percent complete.” Logan recited from the data, then looked up at Thomas knowingly. “But in about 27 seconds, it’ll be precisely 85.4 percent complete. And once the new warp pad’s installed, it’ll be a good… 90.1 percent complete.

“Only 85 percent, huh?” Thomas teased, then added, “Wow, man. Little Homeworld’s really growing fast.”

“So are you.” Logan added, gesturing to Thomas as his screen fizzled out in the air. A moment later, and Logan had mimicked Thomas’s appearance and clothing. “Look at this! You’re a young adult now!”

The warp pad under them came to a sudden stop, ready to be lowered. Logan changed back as the two leaned over the side and watched the gems working hard on construction down below. Thomas couldn’t be happier for them. He gestured around, glancing towards Logan. “Look at all these gems that wanna make their new home on Earth!”

Logan nodded, but he looked lost in thought. “If only I had this when I first emerged.”

Logan looked up into the skyline of Little Homeworld, still thinking. And when he finally started going again, in traditional Logan fashion, he spoke the words instead of sung them. “Once upon a time, I burst to life inside of the Kindergarten, a product of a war that I had no idea I had a part in.”

He let go of the rope, stepping forward to stand on the edge of the warp pad, even as it began to lower. “I came out late and alone, knew nothing but my home. But I know now exactly who I’m supposed to be,” Logan looked back at Thomas, allowing himself to smile. And if Virgil’s smile could make Thomas swell with pride, Logan’s could probably make him burst. That Logan would _allow_ himself to show such open emotion, could feel accepted enough that he wasn’t worried about putting up a cold mask to protect the feelings he once pretended he didn’t have. Logan even laughed, a little. “It’s a part of this family. Here, now, not anything further.”

“Oh, and brace yourself.” Logan added, grabbing the rope next to him. Thomas was thankful for the warning- when the warp pad actually _hit_ the ground, the shock that went through the crystal would have sent him straight to the ground if he hadn’t braced himself. Around them, Little Homeworld rose up in all directions, half built buildings full of potential with talented gems working away.

“Well?” Logan asked, as the two stepped off the warp pad. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?” Thomas repeated, looking around. He was so captivated by the sights around him, he almost missed Patton and Virgil warping in. “Well, I think…” he held up his hands, fingers to thumbs to make a little box, peaking through at the others as if it were a camera. “I think if I could just stop right here and be-”

Thomas leapt onto the warp pad and spun around, holding up his form. The others picked up quickly, crowding around for a group photo. Patton made a heart, Logan gave a thumbs up, and Virgil put on his best ‘I’m not nervous’ face as Thomas took the photo. It came out perfectly.

“Finally done,” Thomas all but breathed, the fact he was _home_ finally, truly, setting in. He belonged here. Among the crystal gems- his friends, his family. “Finally us, finally we-”

Thomas jumped of the warp pad, starting to _run._ He felt the need to _move,_ to go somewhere, and he knew the perfect spot. Behind him, the others followed. “Are in the _future.”_

“Here we are in the future!” sung Patton, happily. He’d missed this- his family back together, at long last, where Patton could finally just exist as _him._

“And it’s bright.” Logan added. Every step he’d taken to get here had been worth it, and he’d gladly take a thousand more to follow these gems down whatever nonsensical path they drag him along. It’d been worth it thus far, after all.

“Nothing to fear, no one to fight.” Virgil continued. For once, he didn’t have to spend every moment thinking about the fact that he was a ‘mere Pearl’- he could just _be,_ here with people that cared for and supported him, without worrying about who he was ‘supposed’ to be. “I can't believe we’ve come so far...”

“Happily ever after-” Thomas said, breathe nearly lost from running all the way to the top of the hill. He stopped where he could look over beach city, flopping down into the cool green grass. A moment later, he was followed by Patton, Logan, and finally Virgil.

“Happily ever after.” They agreed.

“Here we are.” Thomas said, turning his attention to the white clouds above.

For a moment, all Thomas did was stop to catch his breath. He might be half super-powered alien, but he still had to _breathe_ every now and again. There were yellow flowers on the hill- Thomas licked his thumb before picking the flower, then rubbing the stem left behind. A new flower, slightly more purplish-pink, grew in its place.

“I want everything to stay _exactly_ like this, and _never_ changed.” Thomas said, mostly to the air above.

“Mood.” Virgil agreed.

“Here, here.” Patton added, raising a fist lazily into the air.

“How’s the future looking, Logan?” Thomas asked, turning his gaze over to said gem. “Do we just say like this, forever?” he asked, mostly joking. He expected Logan to say something about him needing to get up and eat, or get a cramp. What he was not expecting, once Logan fixed his glasses, was for him to bolt upright and give a panicked “No-!” towards the sky. 

Thomas’s gaze snapped to the sky too- just in time to see the sky darken and the clouds to collect in what Thomas had learned to be a gem ship entering the atmosphere too _fast_. The wind picked up as the Crystal Gems collectively jumped to their eyes, gaze turned to the sky as the clouds parted and a ship descended from the sky.

The thing about gem ships is that they tended to be any sort of shape and size- you didn’t have to worry about air resistance in space, after all. This one vaguely looked like an hourglass- though instead of sand, Thomas realized it was filled with some kind of liquid as it drew near, up until it was hovering just above them.   
“HEY!”

Atop the massive ship was a gem, but they were far too far away for him to make out any details. 

“ARE YOU THOMAS SANDERS?”

“Uh… yes?” Thomas said, sounding more like he was asking a question then answering one. He didn’t even fully expect that the other gem had heard-

Then the gem ship crashed into the Earth.


	2. System/Boot.OtherFriends(2).info

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should really listen to Other Friends [MALE & FEMALE MASHUP] by ElysianPlanet over on youtube- it's what started this whole au and really carries the vibes I'm trying to sell here. Or not, I'm not your dad.

Virgil  _ knew _ it, he just  _ knew _ something was going to go wrong today. They suspicion had hung in his Gem like a lead weight all day, and look where ignoring his nonexistent-gut feelings had gotten them… an unknown Gem was crashing into their home turf, and none of them were prepared! He was the first to pull his weapon from his Gem, keeping the bow in one hand and ready to pull an arrow out of his other, but waited for a sign from Thomas or an opening from this unknown Gem.

He learned getting the first shot at a target they knew nothing about tended to end in disaster, and get him targeted and poofed before the fighting had even begun in earnest.

Now that the ship was closer, they could see the vague outline of a Gem. They could also see a drill emerge from the bottom of the ship and break the earth under the ship, shaking the ground for a second time. The pinkish liquid inside the ship began to run down a spiraling track inside the drill going down, which you didn’t need future vision to guess was probably going to lead to Not Good in the near future.

“Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well! Let me get a look at the menagerie!”

Whoever this was must be using a megaphone of some kind- Virgil had briefly spotted them holding something cone-shaped, and they sounded a lot closer then Virgil thought they would from all the way up on top of the ship. Also, he immediately didn’t like them. Something about his voice just rubbed Virgil the wrong way. 

“You must be Logan!” continued the voice. 

“And you must be Patton!” said the Gem on top of the ship. 

Virgil nearly jumped right out of his nacre. Because that had  _ definitely _ been a different Gem, and this time it  _ did  _ sound like it was coming from all the way atop the ship. He’d even spotted the Gem atop the ship raise his hands to his mouth. Then the Gem atop the ship  _ jumped _ , plumpeting all the way down to a platform circling the bottom of the ship. Instead of his form poofing upon impact, however, the gem seemed to ‘splat’, his body collapsing like rubber before springing back into shape. As he stepped towards the edge they were joined by a second, confirming that there were, in fact,  _ two _ of them.

“And  _ Purple Diamond’s _ Pearl,” they said at the same time, slightly off synch with each other. “Well, he took  _ you _ with  _ him... _ isn’t that just…  _ swell?” _

As they spoke they leaned over the side of the platform, and Virgil could finally  _ see _ them clearly for the first time. Could finally see their upside down, heart shaped gemstones. One red, and one green. Virgil  _ recognized _ them, if fact. The last time he’d seen them, they hadn’t been wearing those outfits- they kinda looked like a pair of princes. Red Spinel had a near white outfit one, with a red sash and trimming going across his chest and shoulders. Green Spinel had a frillier version of the same outfit, but near black and with a green sash and trimming. Cracks were collected around Green Spinels neck, trailing their way up onto the lower half of his face and down below his clothing. If Virgil had to guess, he probably had a lot more that were hidden from sight. They were both wearing identical scowls as they glared down at Virgil.

All Virgil managed to react with was responding with a dull sounding “It… but it  _ can’t _ be.”

“Oh, but it can be, and it  _ is _ .” Green Spinel said with a laugh- or maybe cackle was a better word for the sound currently coming out of the Gem’s mouth.

“We’ve got a new style-” Red Spinel said, running a hand through his hair and leaning too far back to have kept his balance as easily as he did. “And a few new  _ toys _ -” on the word ‘toy’, Green Spinel slammed his fist against the side of the ship, where they could see the liquid inside. “That are gonna put an  _ end _ to you-”

_ “Happily ever after,” _ the two said together, making it extra creepy. “Once and for  _ all.” _

“Woah, woah!” Thomas yelled up to the other two Gems, holding up his hands and carefully taking a few steps towards the ship. “This-  _ has _ got to be a misunderstanding! In case you haven’t heard, I’ve established peace across the-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard!” Green Spinel growled, interrupting Thomas while rolling his eyes harder than any Gem Virgil had ever seen before.

“We’ve had you little message to the universe,” the two began, Green Spinel drawing himself up to his full height. Virgil realized what was about to happen a moment too late. “On  _ LOOP!” _

Green Spinel kicked out- and unlike a normal gem, his foot kept going until he’d kicked Thomas right in the face, sending him flying back to the rest of the Crystal Gems.  _ Now _ the others drew their weapons, even as Green Spinel was still drawing his leg back in.

Patton pulled out the hilt of a sword from his gem, water forming to make the blade. Logan formed his oversized-hammer of a weapon. Virgil grabbed an arrow and shot at the two Spinels, hoping to at least hit one of them. He hit neither of them when they literally curved out of the way. Damn it, he’d forgotten how Spinels-

“I just  _ looooove _ that part, by the way.” Red Spinel cut in. “Where Purple Diamond spends the  _ rest of his days _ on this…  _ nowhere _ planet,” On the ‘nowhere, Green Spinel echoed the word, then joined as Red Spinel kept talking and the two of them crouched down- “with. A. Bunch. Of.  _ NOBODIES!” _

The two sprang into the air, and the battle officially started, and the two of them officially began  _ singing. _

“That’s right I heard the story over and over again-”

Virgil knocked back another arrow, ready to fire at the nearest opportunity- only for Green Spinel to immediately get into Thomas’s face, too close for him to risk firing. Green Spinels smile was far to wide and far to manic to be real, and his voice, as he and Red Spinel sung, was far to high strung. “ _ Gee,” _ they sung together, but it was Green Spinel in Thomas’s face.

“It’s swell to finally meet his  _ other _ friends.”

Green Spinel shot back suddenly, but before Virgil could land a shot he suddenly had to duck out of the way of a water blade that proceeded to go soaring over his head. At some point, Red Spinel had gotten close to Patton, and was currently dancing around his attempts to swing his sword.

“That’s right, I heard the story-” Green Spinel began singing again, which Virgil reacted to by swinging his bow towards the sound and getting ready to fire. “ _ Don’t really like how it ends.” _ Red Spinel cut in, right next to Virgil’s ear. It turned out that Virgil had chosen the wrong target, made evident when Red Spinel grabbed his hands and spun with him, causing Virgil to let out a startled shout and lose his balance. All Red Spinel had to do was let Virgil go, and flew right into Patton before he could catch his footing, sending the two crashing to the ground.

“Gee,” the two sung together, definitely snickering now, right as Logan tried swinging at Red Spinel. Red Spinel provided to poke Logan in the eyes and force him to yank back (even if it only startled a Gem). “It’s swell to finally meet his other friends~”

Green Spinel’s arms shot out and grabbed Virgil as he was reaching for his bow, yanking him away and  _ up. _ “What did he say about us?” Green Spinel asked, holding Virgil by the feet and swinging him back and forth, his too-wide smile stretched thin. “What did she  _ say?” _

Somewhere behind himself, Virgil could hear Red Spinel singing, (“What did you do without us, what did you  _ do?”) _ alongside the sounds of Logan shouting, but was too preoccupied trying to steady himself enough to draw a new bow from his Gem. Before he managed to  _ somehow _ do so, Green Spinel dropped him unceremoniously face first on the ground as he lept off, presumingly to attack either Patton or Thomas.

“Did you play games without me?” Green Spinel continued, alongside the sound of Patton going ‘woah-woah-woah-woah!’ “What did you  _ play?” _

Virgil was just managing to pull himself back up off the ground when Red Spinel shot past, heading straight for Thomas. Virgil managed to choke out half a warning.

“Did you think all this time that we  _ wouldn’t find out about YOU?” _ the two shouted, charging towards Thomas. Yet, instead of attacking them, they jumped into the air, their arms shooting out. Green Spinel grabbed Thomas and Patton, while Red Spinel managed to grab Virgil and Logan. The two yanked back the moment they had a grip, bringing everyone slamming together in the center of the grassy hill. “Oh, that’s right, I heard the story over and over again!”

By the time Virgil looked up, the two of them had somehow managed to get atop the lighthouse. It barely put them up a fraction of the height of the Gem Ship, but it was still more than enough for them to loom over the group, and for Virgil to make out their identical grins. “Gee,” the two continued, chipper and upbeat. “It’s  _ swell _ it finally  _ meet _ his other friends~”

The Crystal Gems groaned.

“They’re running circles around us!” Patton gasped out, bringing himself up onto one knee. 

“I’m  _ rusty, _ give me a break!” Logan snapped back. Virgil could  _ hear _ the underlying layer of fear making Logan snap like that, making his voice shake as he spoke.

“It really is them.” Virgil didn’t even realize she was  _ saying _ anything before the words were coming out of his mouth. “But they… they can’t be  _ serious!” _

Everyone’s attention turned to him, and it was only thanks of years of befriending this group that he didn’t shrink back at the attention. “You know them, Virgil?” Thomas asked, “Can you tell us who they are?” The way he asked it, asking if Virgil  _ could _ even talk about them, immediately clued in Virgil in on what Thomas was thinking. But no, this wasn’t a Diamond Command- they’d just never come up in conversation before-

It was also the wrong thing to say, as it turned out.

“Who am I?”

“ _ WHO AM I?” _

“WHAT ARE YOU EVEN  _ SAYING!” _ although they were both shouting- in anger, in shock, it was Green Spinel that launched himself towards the edge of the lighthouse. The way he was snapping at them, he almost looked like a rabid animal, barely holding himself back.

“Who am I?” Red Spinel sung.    
“Who am I?” Green Spinel sung.

“What are you  _ even saying?” _

“I’m the loser-” Green Spinel began, pushing himself up and back to the other Spinel.

“Of the game-” Red Spinel continued, both of them reaching for their weapons. Virgil’s first assumption was that they were going for Light weapons. What they pulled out wasn’t a Light weapon.

“You didn’t know you were playing!” they sung, spinning red cylinders in their hands. Virgil felt his breath start to rapidly pick up. “Let’s play  _ another _ game-”

“This time I get to win.” sung Red Spinel.

“This time I got to win.” sung Green Spinel.

“Thomas,” Virgil managed to spit out, taking a step back.  _ “Run.” _

“What?” Thomas asked. “Virgil, what’s wrong?! What’s going on?!”   
Virgil couldn’t remember how to breathe.

“Lives on the line!” Green Spinel declared, his Rejuvenator forming into a sword. 

“Winner takes all!” Red Sinel declared, his Rejuvenator expanding into a wide shield with three points (the middle largest) on the bottom.

“Ready or not-” they both declared, spinning their weapons and getting ready to attack. Around Virgil, the Crystal Gems were getting ready to defend themselves, but Virgil had sunk into his hoodie and was yanking on Thomas’s arm, trying to make him  _ move. _ “Let’s begin!”

Red Spinel came flying at then, shield out, and it didn’t take a genius to realize they should dodge the attack.

“Oh, that’s right, I heard the story  _ over and over again!” _ the two sung, as Red Spinel landed in the middle of their group, spinning around and forcing them to jump back to avoid being smashed to bits by the shield (or  _ worse- _ ). Virgil’s world was shrinking down to a single panicked point, so much so it was only his programming as a Pearl that caused him to notice Thomas’s cry of alarm as Red Spinel kicked him back, out of the  _ way _ \- “Gee, it’s  _ swell _ to finally beat his  _ other friends~!” _

King, what did you  _ do? _

“Oh, that’s right! We heard the story-” Up on the lighthouse, Green Spinel was cackling. Virgil’s attention snapped to him on reflex more than anything. He wound himself around the building, barely managing to hold on with his weapon locked between a couple of iron bars on the railing. Why was he-

“Don’t really like how it ends.” Red Spinel added. He had his shield up, standing on the opposite side as Green Spinel and blocking the way down. Virgil recognized the trap a moment too late.

“Gee!” the two sung, right as Green Spinel let go. “It’s swell to finally beat his other-”

“Other-” Green Spinel was flying at them, blade raised. Virgil had to get out of the-

“Other~” Red Spinel hummed. Virgil looked down. There was a white cut, clean through his middle.

Virgil, Patton, and Logan all poofed.

“Friends.” the two Spinels finished.

♢♢♢♢

_ “NO!” _

The two gems looked back at Thomas like they’d forgotten he was even there in the first place. They’d struck fast- but the others were only poofed, and now Thomas knew how they fought. So long as he kept these gem’s attention on him, his friends should be fine. Thomas drew himself to his full height, bringing his arm up and summoning his shield. “That’s  _ enough.” _

“Aw, what’s the matter Tom Tom~?” the green one asked, leaning on the handle of his weapon on his shoulder. The other one, the red one, was standing between them and raised his shield in self defense. “Miss your friends already?” Greenie asked. “Well don’t worry, you’re  _ right behind THEM!” _

Greenie leapt clean over his twin, bringing the blade up and straight down towards Thomas. Thomas brought his shield up over his head, bracing himself for the weight of the weapon (and gem behind it) to slam into it. Instead the weapon cut clean through his shield, breaking into two halves that dissipated away, whilst the blade cut right through him. Literally. Thomas was left with a jittery feeling akin to being hit by a destabilizer, but otherwise… unharmed?

“Hah!” Thomas looked up, allowing himself to  _ grin. _ “That was nothin’.”

Greenie chuckled back. “Than I guess you won’t mind if I do it again?” he asked, slashing forward with his sword. Thomas didn’t bother stopping the blade from cutting through him- instead he waited for his key moment- Greenie laughing the whole time, before managing to grab the handle of the weapon and force him to stop.

“Cut it  _ OUT!” _ Thomas snapped, with more force than he intended.

“You don’t poof, do you?” Greenie asked, smug as ever. “Figured as much. JUST WAIT!” And suddenly he was in Thomas’s face for the second time that day, grinning ear to ear. “Just WAIT. You’re human half won’t stand a chance against my injector,  _ especially after what I did too you Gem~” _

“Urg- What are you  _ talking _ about?” Thomas snapped. There was no way this gem wasn’t cracked, or smudged, or had a few screws loose.

“You weren't always a powerful hero,” somehow, Greenie’s grin got even wider. “Were you?”

Thomas had  _ enough. _

He yanked back the weapon- managing to yank it straight out of Greenies hands as he just laughed and  _ laughed _ , Thomas spinning from the force of grabbing it. He brought it around, ready to swing- and shut his eyes a moment before the weapon could hit. He assumed, when he opened them, Greenie would be poofed and he could move on. 

Instead Red was standing there, the shield dissipating from the attack. He let out a single, low chuckle, his body cleaved in half and sliding apart slightly, before poofing in a big red explosion of light and dust.

By the time the light cleared, Greenie was gone, and Red’s gem was laying in the grass.

Thomas fell to his knees, letting his breath out. He’d need to go after Greenie before he caused more harm- or send someone after the rogue gem, but right now he needed to stop and catch his breath for a moment. His nerves were still fired up from the fight, and he made a mental note to get in some more combat training on the side. He really couldn’t  _ afford _ to be anywhere but the top of his game.

“Okay.” Thomas dragged his hand down his face, before finally looking back down at the red, heart-shaped gem laying by his knees. “Let’s bubble you before you cause anymore trouble.” Thomas muttered, mostly just to hear something other than the wind. He poked the gem, already pulling his hand back before he realized nothing had happened.

“What- hey, where’s my-” Thomas sputtered, placing his hand around the gem. He focused on making the bubble this time, managing to get it around the gem for half a second before it ‘popped’. His brow furrowed as he shifted the gem into one hand, holding back up the gem weapon and trying to bubbled it. Nothing. Zilch. Nodda.

“I don’t- what’s going- LION!” Thomas yelled across the hill, cupping his hands with items included around his mouth. “LIOOOOOOON!”

A moment later, he heard the familiar  _ huff _ of Lion landing behind him, turning around and trying to shove the weapon into his main. It fell to the ground. “Oh for the love of- I can’t store things in Lion’s mane now? That’s like- the easiest thing ever! You literally just drop it and go!” Thomas grabbed the weapon and shoved it into his pocket, right before yanking at his hair in frustration. Nothing, about  _ any _ of this, was making any sense.

“Thomas?” softly called a voice from lower on the hill.

“Deceit?” Thomas called back, even as he was turning his head to look down at the Citrine soldier. There wasn’t even way Thomas  _ wasn’t _ going to recognize him. For a Quartz, he was skinny, and you could easily see the leftover green swirls that corruption had scarred onto his physical form. Plus, there was all the trouble he’d caused here on Earth in the past- but they were, thankfully, well past that. “Deceit, I need help.”

Normally, Deceit moved with such care and caution, that Thomas outright  _ forgot _ how fast he could move. But still, the way Deceit was just-  _ suddenly _ there seemed a little  _ two _ fast. Thomas blinked, raising his hand to his head. Now that he was thinking about it- he  _ did _ seem a little dizzy.

When he glanced back up, Deceit was looking at him strangely, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he gestured towards the gem in Thomas’s hand, (during which Thomas realized he’d picked the others up off the ground), and asked, “Who was that?”

“I don’t know.” Thomas held up the heart-shaped gem, but Deceit didn’t seem to recognize him. “There was a second green one, but he got away.”

“What did they want?” Deceit asked.

“I don’t- I don’t know.” Thomas answered. But then he gestured up to the gem ship. “They, um, they flew in on this thing.”

Deceit nodded. “I saw. It’s why I came up here in the first place.” Ah. “How’d they manage to poof everyone?”

“Oh- um,” Thomas fished the gem weapon out of his pocket, taking a few seconds to observe it before pressing the singular button on the side. The blade formed above it, out of what looked like lightening before solidifying into a thin blade. “He used this.”

“Oh,  _ no.” _ Deceit whispered. 

“What?” Thomas asked, looking back to Deceit. The other gem was now holding the gemstones close to his chest, as if the weapon was about to jump out of Thomas’s hands and shatter them. “Wait, do you know what this it?”

Deceit shook his head, though Thomas got the feeling it had nothing to do with his question by the way he shrunk back at the same time, then looked around. “We should- Thomas, put that away. We need to get… let’s get to you home.” 

♢♢♢♢

“Soooo…. Are you gonna… you know, explain? Anything?” Thomas asked.

Deceit was sitting on the couch, hands folded in front of his mouth, looking at the table where the gems were laid out, thinking deeply. Thomas wasn’t actually sure he’d heard a word he’d just said. Thomas, meanwhile, was sitting next to him, glancing from Deceit towards the gems and back again. The clock on the wall was ticking away. Thomas fiddled with his thumbs.

“Deceit?” Thomas asked.

Deceit breathed out slowly.

“Thomas,” Deceit began. “Listen to me.”

“I’m listening.” Thomas said, mimicking Deceit’s posture.

Deceit sighed.

“Back during… the way,” Deceit began, gesturing to- who knows what. A random potted plant on a windowsill, apparently. (Thomas was pretty sure Deceit was just moving his hand randomly, it wasn’t supposed to mean anything). “Our homeworld- they didn’t like ‘wasting’ resources. Not gems. But as more and more gems began to join our cause, they were getting more and more axiouse to, erm, ‘return to the status co.’, as it were.”

“This,” Deceit lightly tapped the corner of the gem weapons, before yanking his hand back. “Is a rejuvenator. It- when used on a gem it, erm-” Deceits voice faltered out, and he shook his head again. “Thomas, I think we might need to consider that… well…”

“Deceit,” Thomas reached over and placed a hand on Deceit’s shoulder. “Look. Whatever that weapon was couldn’t be that bad- look, their gems are just fine and I could just heal any damage they did take.”

Deceit looked up at Thomas like he was a child who didn’t understand anything. Thomas raised an eyebrow back. 

“Look, Thomas, I don’t think you understand what-” As Deceit was speaking, he reached out and brushed the edge of Virgil’s gem. Which began to glow, rising into the air.

Thomas immediately sat upright. “See! Here’s good ol’ Virgil, right on schedule.”

But instead of forming Virgil, the gemstone formed a whitish, purplish clamshell around itself.

‘Please Identify Yourself.’ said a voice that was like Pearl’s but- didn’t  _ sound _ like Pearl.

“Um… Deceit?” Deceit stammered, clearly as caught off guard as Thomas was.

‘Greeting Um Dee Seat. Please State Prefered Customisation Settings.’ the voice continued.

“Um, er…” Deceit looked to Thomas for help.

“I… I don’t know.” Thomas said, shrugging. None of them seemed right-

‘Default Setting Selected. Please Stand By.’ the voice finished, before the Pearl flew back into the middle of the room. The Shell grew and opened up, and finally.  _ Finally, _ Virgil reformed. But even as he did, something was clearly  _ wrong. _

He rose from the shell in a way Thomas had never seen him do before, and when he did he was wearing an outfit extremely different than anything anyone had ever seen before. It kinda reminded Thomas of what the other Pearl’s on Geode had worn. His shirt, if it was one, was sleeveless and tucked into some pants with rather poofy pant legs, which in turn where tucked into lightly colored knee high boots. Starting at his neck and draping downwards was what looked like the frilly veil thing Thomas had seen Pearls wearing all the time, which fell down to about his waist before poofing outward. Everything was some shade of purple, with no black or white or plaid to be seen.

It was the single most un-Virgil like thing he’d ever seen the gem wear, and looked like something Virgil would have been extremely self conscious and uncomfortable wearing.

“Virgil?” Thomas asked, approaching him and raising a hand. “Virgil, um… I’m glad you’re back?”

Virgil didn’t even look at him. There was a polite smile on his face, and he walked straight past Thomas to stand in front of Deceit.

“Oh no.” muttered Deceit.

Virgil lifted one arm, and dipped into a bow. “How do you do, my Um Dee Seat. Thank you for bringing me into the world~” Virgil dipped down onto one knee, holding Deceit’s hand and looking at him with sparkling eyes that didn’t remember him even slightly. “I am at you eternal service, welcome to your new Pearl~”

“Oh no.” muttered Deceit.

They were interrupted by a pink glow from the table. The Rose Quartz gem lifted itself from the table, glowing brightly. When Rose did take form, she had her arms crossed in a traditional Diamond salute, before looking around in confusion. She hopped off the table, standing at attention with her back straight and her eyes now locked straight ahead.

“Rose!” Thomas approached the table, looking up at her. She flinched back, looking at Thomas in confusion. “Are you- are you okay?”

While Thomas had only met this half of Patton a small handful of times, it was still surprising for her to pull away in confusion, asking, “Who are you? You’re not my assignment.”

“It’s me! You know, Thomas?” Thomas asked, before turning to Deceit in confusion. “I could really use an explanation here!”

“Allow me to illuminate!” Virgil announced, spinning around to the front of the room and gesturing to Rose with both hands. “A Quartz guard, but just a single one. They tend to come in groups of three, or more.” Just as Virgil was holding up three fingers to demonstrate, a blue glow came from the table as Logan’s gem began to glow. 

Who formed on the table was half Logan’s height, with long fluffy hair that fell behind his back and covered his eyes(?), with poofy sleeves and a large poofy dress with two additional layers atop and swept off to the right. He said nothing.

Virgil gasped lightly. “A precious Sapphire, he sees the future~” Virgil twirled around to the other side, gesturing to both gems now reformed. “That’s who the Quartz is for.”   
The Rose immediately gave the diamond salute again. “My Sapphire! As my sworn duty and sole purpose, I will protect you with my life!”

“I know you will,” Logan said, and he just sounded so… cold. “That’s why I predict you won’t last more than a day. 

“Huh?” Rose asked.

“Come now.” Logan said, holding up one hand. The Rose helped him down off the table and the two walked off to the side. No sooner had they stepped away than finally, the Lapis Lazuli gem began to glow and raise as well.

“Lapis!” Thomas called. At least hoping she’d answer. “Hey, Lapis?”

The Lapis looked at him. He had flecks of golden ‘freckles’ across his face and shoulders, and was wearing the same thing he’d worn as long as Thomas had known him. His top was pretty much a bikini, attached to a golden choker around his neck. And though he wore pants, he had a… skirt… towel? Tied around his waist, knotted on his left side. The gemstone on his chest was currently sitting with it’s ‘point’ upwards, as speckled with gold as his face was.

“Who are you? What planet is this?” the Lapis asked.

“You must be right, this is a Lapis Lazuli,” Virgil cut in, sliding in next to Thomas and looking the Lapis up and down from top to bottom. “Except a Lapis is pure blue- this one is not the  _ best _ exemple-” Virgil clasped his hands together and looked back and forth between Thomas and the Lapis. “Something is clearly  _ wrong.” _

“I do say…” Virgil tilted his head slightly to the side. “Something  _ is _ clearly wrong. What are all these different gems doing in this strange place?”

“Virgil, don’t you recognize them?” Thomas asked, all but pleading with him at this point. “Don’t you recognize  _ me?” _

“Hmm,” Virgil glanced Thomas up and down. “Well, I certainly recognize my ‘Um Dee Seat’.” Virgil said, gesturing to where Deceit hadn’t moved since Virgil reformed.

“Oh no.” Deceit muttered.

“But as for you…” Virgil muttered, leaning in close to Thomas. Way to close. “Hmm…”

Thomas was saved by the next gem on the table reforming- then he remembered who was reforming.

“Get back!” Thomas shouted, getting in front of the group as he summoned his shield. Well-  _ tried _ to summon his shield, that is. It fizzled out the moment he had it, too Thomas’s utter confusion. And the new gem was reforming  _ fast _ . He watched the gem rise up into the air, then flip upside down, so now the point was pointing down and it really  _ did _ look like a heart.

“Ha hah~!”

The Red gem’s arms shot out, grabbing Thomas. Yet instead of attacking him, like he would have thought the gem would, the other gem pulled  _ himself _ closer into a tight hug, even as he finished reforming. “I’m so _ excited _ to meet you!”

Thomas blinked. If anything, this gem’s outfit had gotten  _ simpler _ . His sash was now tied around his waist into a bow at his back, which served as a divider between his white shirt and red sailor pants (buttons and all). He, of course, had red poofy sleeves. (Man, what was up with homeworld and poofy sleeves?). He also had boots that looked fashionable but in a way that didn’t look  _ practical. _ “You’re… not mad?” Thomas finally asked. 

“Mad?” the red gem leaned back, poking his own cheek and looking confused. “Why would I be mad at my-” The gem stood back and twirled, red sparkles filling the air around him as he stopped and struck a pose. “ _ Best _ friend?”

“This will be fun!” Virgil said, scaring Thomas half to death as his sudden entrance. Virgil didn’t seem to notice. “Aren't you the lucky one? His cut is perfect his colors unblemished.” Virgil gestured to the new gem, as a spotlight game from… somewhere. The gem mimicked being shocked, before doing a little dance, Virgil continuing. “He’ll bring you endless entertainment, welcome to you new best friend-Spinel!”

Thomas pinched himself to make sure this wasn’t all one  _ really weird _ dream.

He was fairly sure this was not all one  _ really weird _ dream.

“You!” Thomas snapped, giving the others gem a hard poke. He wasn’t actually sure if gems could feel things in their gems, but he did it anyways. “What did you  _ do _ to us!”

Spinel laughed, poking Thomas on the nose. “You’re turn. Boop!” he said, before looking around Thomas to the gems on the other side of the room. Virgil was now trying to adjust the half cloak on Deceit’s shoulder, while Deceit tried to back away, and the Rose was still ‘guarding’ Logan. “Hey look, other gems! You wanna ask them to play too?”

“Wait, hold on.” Thomas sighed and looked Spinel over. “You’re  _ really _ telling me you don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” Spinel asked.

♢♢♢♢

“Wow, that thing sure is big. You wanna climb is somethin?” Spinel asked.

Thomas sighed. “Really? What about all that stuff you said about how I won’t stand a chance against your injector?”   
“Huh?” Spinel asked, scratching the top of his head. “I said what now?”

“You really don’t remember.” Thomas sighed.

“That’s-  _ this _ is what rejuvinators  _ do, _ Thomas.” Deceit spoke up. He was standing behind Thomas, which wasn’t creepy at  _ all. _ “One hit from those, and you were reset back to the day you were made.” Thomas was facing Deceit now, and the gem locked eyes with him. “We watched as our allies were turned against us, facing friend and foe alike on the battlefield, never sure who we could trust. The use of these weapons is  _ why _ we were pushed to take drastic action as soon, and as violently, as we did.”

“My Um Dee Seat, allow me.” Virgil said, walking up with an umbrella and holding it above Deceit’s head. Deceit sighed. “If you want to know more, you’d have to go ask Bismuth. She knows more about these things than I do.” 

“Bismuth-  _ of course _ .” Thomas turned towards where Little Homeworld rose up on the horizon. “And the others- common everyone.” he gestured towards the gems, then the nearest warp pad. “We’ve got to get going.”

He started to run towards the warp pad, but only Spinel followed. Thomas stopped and glanced back. “Um… guys?” 

“We’re not going anywhere with you!” Rose snapped, getting into a defensive stance. 

“I  _ do _ see us following him into the countryside.” Logan said.

“Nevermind, we’re coming with you.” Rose said, and the two headed towards the warp pad. 

Thomas looked towards the Lapis, who shrugged. “Eh, why not. Sounds like fun.” he said, then headed towards the warp pad as well.

Thomas looked towards Deceit and Virgil.

“I’ll stay here at ground zero. And he’ll…” Deceit looked at Virgil, than looked away, raising a hand to his face as if to block Virgil’s unblinking line of sight. “He’s not going anywhere I’m  _ not _ Thomas.” 

“Okay- stay safe, we’ll get to the bottom of this.” Thomas promised, than turned and headed to the warp pad.

“Please hurry.” Deceit muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're pretty much skipping straight to Virgil getting his memories back after this (I'm keeping the fic short and covering what I wanna cover) but I won't actually write out Disobedient or Independent Together. Sorry.


	3. Found Drifting Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time I'm gonna recommend you check out the Drift Away cover by TunnelBerg (It's really good)!

“I’m afraid I can’t help, I’m currently in the service of my Um Dee Seat preparing for tonight’s concert, preparing for a promising ensemble in the ‘rok-an-rol’ genre.”

Logan leaned over to Thomas, one hand on his shoulder. “You’re _sure_ this is Virgil, right? Not some random extra Pearl that wondered in?”

 _“Yes,_ Logan, I promise. He’s just a little…” Thomas eyed Virgil, who was standing with his hands clasped in front of his chest and the most vacant look in his eyes. “Out of it right now. No worse than you were.”

“You’re _back.”_ Deceit suddenly appeared from behind Virgil, who stepped to the side with a little bow to present him. Deceit leaned on the doorway, looking exhausted. “Thank the stars- have you figured out a way to fix everything yet?”

Thomas began to count off on his fingers. “Okay, let’s see- first we have to stop the injector. To stop the injector, we need Spinel back. To get Spinel back, we need Pearl back. To get Pearl back, we need her missing pieces. To do that, we need- we need some big dramatic rebellion. He rebelled with dad so he’s gotta rebel with you. To do that we need something like a- like a, um-”

“Like a rock show?” Patton asked. Thomas jerked his head up to see Patton holding up one of the many flyers spread around town, advertising Valerie’s show (now moved to the warehouse, apparently). 

“Like a _rock show.”_ Thomas repeated. “Patton, what would I ever do without you?”

“Like a… rock show?” Deceit asked.

♢♢♢♢

The rock show was packed, for it being the end of the world and all.

“Okay, this should work.” Thomas said over the crowd once he’d made it back to Deceit. “I’ve requested they play a song all about quitting a crummy service job.” He glanced at Virgil, who was watching Deceit. “He can relate to that- I think.”

“Fingers crossed.” Deceit said, holding up said crossed fingers. 

Between the music and the cheering from the crowd, it was loud enough to drown out one’s ability to think. Virgil had always _loved_ that kinda music, blasting it through headphones straight into his ears. Thankfully, gems didn’t get hurt by that sorta of thing the same way humans did. Thomas scooted back into the ground, trying to get a good look at everyone.

Thomas glanced back at where Patton was keeping Spinel busy. The two were dancing, looking like they were having the time of their lives. They got along so well they made it look _easy._ He turned his attention to the stage, where Logan was filling in for a drummer while staying very straight-faced. He looked back towards Deceit and Virgil. 

Deceit was gesturing for Virgil to join in, but all Virgil did was curtsy. No matter how much Deceit pointed at the stage, Virgil just didn’t look. Virgil sighed and made a show of shrugging at Thomas. Thomas scooted back to the two. 

“Any luck?” Thomas asked.

“None to be found here.” Deceit responded, shaking his head. “Neither good nor bad. A shame too- this is one of Valeri’s best.”

“I didn’t know you were a fan.” Thomas noted. “Of this bad or just- music in general.”

“I’ve been taking music lessons, so I should hope so.” Deceit responded, than looked at Virgil. “Do you want to play any instrument?”

“I’ll play whatever you’d like me too, my Um Dee Seat.” Virgil responded. 

“Yeah, this isn't working.” Deceit said, turning back to Thomas.

“Okay- um, one sec.” Thomas said, then turned and made his way back towards the stage. Logan either finished his drum solo or had seen Thomas coming, as he’d already made his way to the edge of the stage. “It’s _not enough!”_

Logan glanced up, looking over Thomas’s shoulder, presumingly at Virgil. Then something in expression changed, but Thomas couldn’t pin down what it was until Logan looked back down and took a deep breath. “Maybe we need to him where it _hurts.”_

“What?” Thomas sputtured, his first thought being that Logan was about to suggest punching Virgil in the face or something.

“You know- his original boss? King? Purple Diamond? The reason he rebelled in the first place?” Logan explained. He was adjusting his tie in a way that he only did when he was nervous. “We don’t have _time_ to do this the gentle way.”

“Dad…” Thomas muttered.

“If that’s what it takes.” Deceit said, just as he appeared next to Thomas. Deceit held out his hand, taking Logans mic, and get on the stage. Thomas took several steps back as Deceits form began to glow and bright yellow- and then shift and grow upwards. A gasp was heard from the crowd- but an exsixsited one, among whistles and cheers. They just saw this as a cool light show, a gem showing off their shapeshifting. They did _understand_ the context going on here.

This wasn’t the first time he’d seen Deceit take his fathers form. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Deceit’s _unique_ form of shapeshifting in action. As Deceits colors washed from yellow, to green, to blue, to indigo, and finally to purple, Thomas looked towards Virgil. He was watching Deceit, but hadn’t shown any sign of recognition yet. Fingers crossed. Thomas looked back at the stage, and there his father was.

Had it not been for the yellow gemstone on the back of his hand, he would have been identical to the painting hanging in Thomas’s home. Thomas shoved his hands into his coat pockets to stop them from shaking.

“I, want to be, disobedient.” Deceit sung, and though it wasn’t _quite_ like the voice Thomas had heard in the videos his father had left behind, Deceit was mimicking it close enough. He stepped forward, of the stage and onto the floor in one fluid motion, resting his hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “I, want to be… disobedient. Disobedient. Dis- Disobedient…”

“That’s a lovely form, my Um Dee Deceit.” Virgil said.

The crowd broke out into cheers as Deceit dropped his form, and the mic (which Thomas caught before it could hit the ground). The two shared a _look._

“Don’t worry, I’ll clap for you!” Virgil added, before accidently clapping his hands together.

“Star’s be- What will make you _stop serving_ me?!” Deceit snapped, turning back to Virgil.

“So long as you exist, I’ll serve you.” Virgil promise.

“As long as you-” Thomas repeated, gasping. “Deceit, that’s it!” he leaned forward, hand on Deceit’s shoulder, and whispered his idea into his ear.

Deceit’s eyes went wide for a second. “With- _me?_ Are you sure? And aren't your powers messed up? Are you sure.”

Not even slightly.

“Common Deceit, let’s duet.”

♢♢♢♢

This wasn’t exactly what… Pearl had been expecting. Per say.

Not that he _expected_ anything from his Um Dee Seat. No, certainly not. He’d _never._ It was simply that… well, Pearls weren't meant to question the ways of their owners. He was sure there was some _reason_ they were sticking around on this dying organic planet, some responsibility Pearl just didn’t understand. Maybe it was the music. The music was _really_ good, Pearl could understand wanting to catch a showing before making their leave.

He’d gotten lost again. Pearl blinked, pulling himself out of his thoughts and back into reality. He’d almost missed his Um Dee Seat getting back on stage with the Organic(?). Well Stars- was he meant to follow, and missed a Command? No- last time Um Dee Seat went up on stage, he hadn’t requested Pearls help. Maybe he just wanted to show off his abilities again. In the back of his mind, he wondered if that’s what had earned a _Citrine_ of all things ownership of a Pearl, especially given his- erm, his uh…

Pearl clasped his hands together, keeping his hands in front of his gemstone. He hoped it wasn’t obvious how nervous he was. Pearls weren’t _meant_ to be nervous, he thinks. He’d gotten lost again. Pearl gave a little shake of his head to clear the thoughts away, refocusing on the stage. His Um Dee Seat and the Organic was each holding strange instruments of some kind, facing each other on the stage. As they began to play the first notes of a new song, so did they begin to dance. Ah- a performance piece.

Um Dee Seat had a way of moving that made it look like he was flowing from spot to spot, while the Organic was, erm, bunny hopping across the stage himself. The two met in the middle, fireworks on stage going off as they pressed back to back, right before a giant plume of smoke erupted on stage.

“Um Dee Seat?!” Pearl yelped, suddenly terrified he’d been _left alone-_

“Thomas?!” The Spinel yelped.

“It’s a big ol’ galaxy out there.” said a new voice, dripping with charm and all but _singing_ just as they spoke. The smoke was was beginning to clear, exposing a singular form up on the stage. They were holding up an instrument- the two from before, fused into one. A second pair of arms rose up and tossed the Organic’s jacket to the Spinel. “And sometimes, when your being crushed by the weight of those stars- you need that special someone, to remind you that you’re so much _more.”_

His Um Dee Seat was gone. And on stage, the fusion began to play, and asked him what _he_ wanted to do.

♢♢♢♢

Spinel clutched Thomas’s jacket close to his gem, watching his friends fly off without him. He didn’t know why he felt so… _familiar._

Someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, and a way too familiar voice hissed in his ear, “Let’s get _out_ of here, Roman.”

♢♢♢♢

No sooner had their fusion (unnamed, for now) neared the ground then their fusion broke apart, sending Thomas sprawling to the ground as he gasped for breath. Everything sounded… distant, and fuzzy, like he was hearing it underwater, with a ringing overlaying it all. He dragged his head up, vision swimming, just in time to see the Green Spinel dragging Red away through the crowd, his jacket falling to the floor. He tried to call out to them, but he just couldn’t seem to make any sound- or maybe he was screaming, and couldn’t hear it.

“-os?! Thomas?!” Virgil was calling, approaching Thomas. “What happened- are you okay?”

“Don’t-” Thomas held up a hand to stop Virgil, taking several deep breaths. “Don’t worry about me- it’s Spinel. We need to stop their injectors- what do you know about them?”

“The Spinels?” Virgil asked. “I- they were Purple Diamonds little playmates- they used to spend _ages_ together in his gardern-”   
“Garden?” Logan asked.

“It’s where they used to play!” Virgil continued. “I haven't seen them in six thousand years, something _must_ have happened to them since then!”

“Then I need to find out _what,”_ Thomas announced, standing to his full height as he gave a sharp whistle. A roar sounded in the distance. “I’m going after her.”

“Kiddo are- are you sure you don’t need a break?” Patton asked. 

“It looks like that fusion took everything out of you.” Logan added.

They all sounded so worried. “I have to _try.”_ Thomas insisted, as Lion ran up to his side. Thomas hoped on, reaching up on instinct to grab his jacket as Virgil chucked it out him. “Thanks.”

“Stay safe.” Virgil said. Pleaded.

“I’ll try.” Thomas promised, then commanded Lion to race out the doors and into the city beyond. He kept his eyes out, alert for the two gems- and as it turned out, they hadn’t made it too far.

He could see them in the distance, talking. Then suddenly the red one pushed past the green one, making a beeline for the temple. The Green one smacked his forehead before following after.

Thomas followed.

♢♢♢♢

“Spinel?” Thomas called, peaking around the doorway into the Domed Garden. He expected to see both of them, but only the red one was inside, kneeling on the warp pad. He could hear sniffling. “Spinel? What’s wrong?” Thomas asked, beginning to edge his way inside. He kept glancing around, fully expecting the green one to leap from some shadow and attack him- but nothing came.

When Spinel did turn around, there were tears trailing down his face. He looked- “I just,” Spinel began, reaching up to wipe away his tears. “I just sta-started to get these feel- these feelings flooding back to me.” Spinel shuttered, clutching his hands over his gemstone. “These… _flashes,_ of echoes of memories…”

“That’s-” Thomas gulped and pressed forward, until he could rest both hands on Spinel’s shoulders. He kept going, despite what his heart was telling him. “That’s good. I need you to remember. If you don’t… something _really bad_ is going to happen to me and my friends. Please- think-”

“Do you remember the Garden?”

♢♢♢♢

“This was our garden.” 

Seeing Spinel here, such a tiny gem in such a large, dead, _empty_ garden filled Thomas which a sense of dread, straight from his gem. Spinel sounded so _happy,_ so _wistful_ as he spoke, while Thomas could only imagine was this place had looked like when it wasn’t crumbling to pieces. But when he did, he had a mental picture so _vivid_ and so _colorful_ that it could only have been a leftover memory straight from his father's gem.

“A special world, built just for us.” Spinel continued, staring at one of the crumbling pillars. “Back on Geode, Purple was so sad- but not here. Here, he would let his imagination run free, and we were his actors. Gifts from Red and Green Diamond.”

Spinel sighed. “We would play for hours. So many adventures, so many stories. It was so much fun- or, at least, that’s what _I_ thought.”

When Spinel looked back, he just looked so… tired.

“Did something happen?” Thomas asked.

“Purple wanted a colony more than anything.” That was nothing new to Thomas. “One day- his wish came true! The other Diamonds gave Purple his very own planet! Earth!” Again, nothing new. “We were so excited- a new place to play, brand new inspiration for stories.”

“So-” Thomas was starting to see where this was going. “Why… why didn’t you go with him.”

Spinel looked towards the warp pad they’d entered on.

♢♢♢♢

“Here in the Garden, let’s play a game.”

Their Diamond stopped so suddenly, Remus almost ran straight into him! Roman giggled at him slightly under his breath, holding his hands behind his back and swaying back and forth slightly as he waited to see what game their Diamond was in the mood for. Remus, meanwhile, was bouncing up and down slightly, perhaps even _more_ excited than Roman. He’d never really known what happened in the other Spinel’s head. Must be the color difference.

Purple turned to face them, kneeling down so that he could meet them at almost-eye level. Golly, sometimes Roman forgot how tall his Diamond could be- “I’ll show you how it’s done.” their Diamond promised. A _new_ game, Roman realized. New games were always the best- you never knew what Purple Diamond was going to come up with, he was so _talented._

“Here in the Garden,” their Diamond repeated, one hand on each of their shoulders. “Stand _very_ still.”

“This’ll be _so_ much fun!” Remus chirped.

Purple smiled. That, right there? That was what they were after. A smile in his eyes, the sound of his laughter. It filled his gemstone with a found warmth. He’d do _anything_ if it meant getting to see Purple smiling like that. He was happy to listen, happy to play. He stayed as perfectly still as he could manage, watching as their Diamond gave them one more glance, a strange look in his eyes. They he breathed out and stood to his full height, turning his way back to the Galaxy Warp and up the stairs.

Roman watched him go. He’d happily watched him drift away.

He’d happily waited.

Just the two of them.

Under the endless sky.

Counting the seconds.

Standing hand in hand.

As thousands of years go by.

Happily wondering, 

Night after night,

‘Is this how it works?’

‘Am I doing it right?’

Happy to listen. 

Happy to stay.

Happily watching her drift away.

_There was a pond in the Garden, still filled with water. Once upon a time, this had been a spot to sit and rest, while their Diamond thought up new games. He used to look in the water and make faces at himself while Remus giggled at him. Now, all he could see in his reflection was a fool._

_“You keep on turning pages for people who don’t care, people who don’t care…”_

_“People who don’t care about you…”_

_“And still, it takes you ages to see that no one’s there.”_

_“See that no one’s there.”_

_See that no one’s there._

Everyone's gone on without you.

They hadn’t moved in so, so long. Dead vines were wrapped around their feet, wrapped up their legs and rooted them in place long, long ago. The vines had managed to wind up their torsos, down their arms, and around their interlocked hands. Once upon a time, a flor hand bloomed on their hands. It had long since wilted.

They hadn’t been holding hands when they’d started this game. Roman hoped they wouldn’t get in trouble. Maybe their Diamond wouldn’t-

He wouldn’t-

H-he cou- couldn’t have…

Purple light flooded the Garden, from their backs. From the Diamond Communicator. They both broke the rules of the game to look back- what if it had been a message for them? It was their Diamonds color, after all. It was finally something. Final news.

About how the story ended.

_“I know you all might be thinking of me as the new Purple Diamond,”_

He doesn't exist now.

_“-but you don’t have to put me on a throne.”_

Survived by his son.

_“I already have a rightful place, and it’s on Earth.”_

And all of his-

_“It’s a beach house,”_

Brand.

_“Where I live with my friends.”_

New.  
 _“Logan, Patton, and Virgil.”_

Friends. _  
_ _“As much as I love dismantling the empire and saving all your planets,”_

Isn’t that lovely?

_“I can’t wait to get home and spend some quality time with my friends.”_

Isn’t that cool?

Roman broke the rules. He tore himself from the roots, from Remus, stumbling at first. Than running. Sprinting. Towards the communicator. He could hear Remus’s strangled yell as he reached out to him, but he couldn’t stop. Didn’t know what he would do when he got there. Didn’t know _anything_ , apparently.

Aren’t I a food to have-

He fell to his knees. The feed shut down. Remus’s fist smashed into the pedestal where it had once stood.

Happily listened.

Happily stayed.

Happily watched him drift away.

♢♢♢♢

He’d changed back. It was final now, Spinel remembered everything.

“I can’t believe-” Thomas’s words caught in his throat. “I, um, actually I can totally believe dad did that to you. You’re not the only one he hurt, actually.” 

“Oh, good. He made a _habit_ of hurting his friends. And here I thought we were _special.”_ said the Green Spinel.

Thomas turned back to face the other Spinel. He hadn’t even noticed him warp in. Green- _Remus,_ Roman had called him, Remus was scowling at him, body tensed- but here? Now? He looked so _small._ Remus marched forward, coming to stop within arms reach of Thomas. “So,” Remus began, a crooked grin spreading across his face. “Why don’t you go ahead and rub it in, huh? All those years without us, and your _perfect_ little family, and your _happily every after-”_

“Remus.” Roman cut in, pulling himself up off the ground where he’d been kneeling, turning to face the other Spinel. Thomas noticed that his gem was upside down, again. “What’s the _point?_ He’s gone.”

“What’s the point in _holding back,_ Roman?” Remus spat back. “He left us _alone_ out here! Threw us away! We meant _nothing_ to him! We have _deserve_ better.”

“You do.” Thomas cut in. But he wasn’t looking at either of them. He was looking down at the ground, where the broken roots were left when the Spinels had pulled themselves free. “But- you weren't along. You had each other. You still do.”

He looked up. First at Roman, than at Remus. “You can come back to Earth with me. Start over. Make new friends of your own.”

“Someday, somewhere, somehow,” Thomas took each of their hands. Neither stopped him. “You’ll love again-” he pulled their hands closer to each other, then pulled his own back before they connected. “You just need to find someone.”

“Someday,” Remus repeated, edging his hand closer, watching it.

“Somewhere,” Roman echoed, slipping his hand into Remus’s. He held his brothers hand like it was a lifeline.

“Somehow.” Thomas promised. “You’ll love again, you just need to find someone.” He began to walk back towards the galaxy warp, keeping and eye on the two Spinels. All of Remus’s rage seemed to melt around, and the two were captured by each other. “You’ll love again. You just need to find someone. Someone who treats you better-”

“Someone you wants you around.” Remus continued. He took a step back, and Roman followed. Then he took another, and so did Roman. And soon, Remus was leading him back, out of the Garden.

“Someday, somewhere, somehow,” Roman said, softly, almost whispering. As if he were afraid to break the silence. Together, they began climbing the steps, to where Thomas was waiting for them. we’re gonna feel found.

The warp back was simple. Easy. They were back on the Earth in only a few moments. Thomas smiled at them, then stepped out the warp and headed towards the door. Remus began following after, but Roman waited for a moment. Watching his brother.

“Today.” Roman muttered. "Right here, right now. I already feel found.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of our boys is good, the other...  
> And yes, Patton's memories were recovered earlier in this au. For chapter 4 reasons.


	4. Let Us Change for You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright full stop- the change extended cover by Jakeneutron? Amazing. What this chapter pulls form. Ya gotta check it out. While your over there, check out the Let Us Adore You Cover by Floating Megane. Both are great.

And just like that, the injector came to a stop.

It was almost anticlimactic, in a way. Not that Thomas was complaining, far from it. He could finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding up to this moment. The Crystal Gems could finally cheer as the injector rose above the Earth. They might still have a lot of work to do, but now the ticking clock was finally gone and they had room to  _ think. _

Thomas made his way to where the two Spinels were standing, watching (what was apparently his  _ dads _ ship) as it went into stand-by mode. “Remus, Roman.” Thomas said, drawing their attention. He held out his hand. “Thank you.” 

“Ah gee, what are friends for?” Remus asked. He was the closer of the two, and the one to take his hand, rubbing the back of his head.

Thomas nodded, and began to head back to the others. “Okay, we’ve almost cleaned up this mess.” he began, speaking mostly to himself. “Now all we need is my powers and to heal the planet, and we can all get back to living happily ever after.” 

“What about me?”

“Huh?” Thomas looked back. Remus looked sad, and there was a look in his eyes like-

“Wel- well what now? I di- I did what you wanted… that’s it?” Remus asked, taking a step towards Thomas. Roman put a hand on his shoulder, but Remus didn’t seem to notice.

“No- well, yeah, we can just… move on and forget this whole thing ever happened.” Thomas said, hoping to calm Remus down. It didn’t work.

“How are you gonna forget with  _ me _ around?” Remus asked, his voice wavering and rapidly rising in volume. “I’m the  _ source of all YOUR problems! _ Don’t pretend you want me here!” He laughed, the sound unnerving to hear. “What’s you plan here, huh? You gonna put me somewhere? Gonna  _ leave _ me somewhere?! Gonna leave me alone?!”

“Remus!” Roman gasped. “He’s not- I would  _ never _ let them do that to you!”

Remus spun around and shoved Roman away from them, causing Thomas to rush forward to try and help, causing Remus to spin back and punch him back, causing the rejuvenator that had been in his pocket to fall out and hit the ground. It must have landed on it’s button, blazing to life. The Crystal Gems gasped and jumped back.

“Why do you-” Remus’s eyes darted from the weapon on the ground, then back up to Thomas. “Have that?”

Thomas eyes darted down to the weapon. He took a step closer to Remus. “I- I was just carrying it. I di- I didn’t have anywhere else to put it.”

Remus was looking at Thomas closely, when he seemed to… realize something. “We can just… forget this ever  _ happened.” _ he echoed. Then the rage set back in, and he got into a defensive stance. “You mean,  _ I _ can just  _ forget _ this ever happened?!” he started to laugh, rocking with the force of it. “Oh what a plan!”

His arm shot out, and he grabbed the weapon between them. “I  _ turn off _ the injector, then the moment my back is turned-” he spun the weapon, mimicking stabbing something in front of him. “BAM! PRESTO! CHANGE-O! PROBLEM SOLVED! Well think again-” His hand began to form the horn shape he’d used to turn off the injector. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” 

Remus turned the injector back on.

“Remus, no!” Thomas and Roman shouted at the same time.

This time, when the injector crashed into the Earth, it was already cracked enough to  _ really _ make this hit count. The ground was thrown up from the impact, broken and jagged, as if an earthquake had struck. The Crystal Gems were scattered by the impact, Thomas finding himself alone among the rubble. 

“I’m not letting you  _ get one over on me, _ Thomas Sanders.” Remus growled. 

Almost.

“I’m not gonna,” Thomas gasped out, pushing himself up into a kneeling position. “Not gonna reset you, Remus. I promise.”

Remus cackled. “Oh really~?” he asked. “You expect me to believe you like me like  _ this? _ Broken-” he gestured towards the side of his face where the cracks were spreading, as Remus began to walk towards Thomas. “Angry-” he twirled the weapon, holding it back. “Ugly?!”

“You’re not any of those things, Remus.” Roman’s voice cut in. Remus froze, blade held high and ready to strike. Roman dropped down from the nearby rock, beginning to approach the other Spinel. “You just need help.”

Remus spun and around and tried to smash his fist into Roman, who hit the ground. Remus’s fist his the rock behind him instead, creating a crater where he hit. Remus was shaking. Quivering.

“It’s too  _ late _ Roman.” Remus laughed. “You think I can still  _ change _ after all this time? Gems don’t  _ change, _ were just bad.”

“That’s it.” Thomas said, sitting upright. Suddenly, his eyes were clear and focused, and his gem was beginning to glow. “That’s it- all this time, all this happily ever after stuff- it made me forget the first power I ever had. I learned- I grew- I  _ changed.” _

A shockwave erupted from Thomas, sending Remus sprawling back. Thomas stood up, his gem flashing with light as if he were reforming, and summoned his shield, then another, then turned them into a bubble encasing him. He expanded it into spikes, then geometric shapes, bigger and more complex, before finally letting it go to explode outwards.

Thomas summoned one last shield, throwing it straight at the rejuvenator. The weapon clattered from Remus’s hand and shattered against the rock.

At the same time, a massive fusion- Alexandrite, rose from the rubble and roared towards the sky. Remus looked up at them, then back at Thomas. He smirked, winked, than sprang up onto the lower deck, before springing up towards the top.

“I need to go after-” Thomas began.

“No.” Roman put his hand on Thomas's shoulder. “This is  _ our _ mess. I need to stop him.  _ You _ need to help the town.” he turned his attention to Alexandrite. “Hey! Can you throw me up there?!” He asked, pointing towards the top of the injector. 

Alexandrite looked down at the two of them for a moment, likely giving time to her components to think, before reaching down and plucking Roman from the ground. She reeled back, readied herself, and chucked him up towards the top. He didn’t quite make it, but it was close enough.

Roman looked back down as Alexandrite set to work collecting stray residents from the town. Occasionally, he caught a glimpse of one of that Lion’s pink warp jumps. He couldn’t see Thomas from up here, but he could only assume he was doing the same. Turning his attention back to the top, Roman began to climb.

“Hey you,” Roman began to sing under his breath. “Why don’t you show me that solvable problem?” Hand over hand, up he went. “We can get through this together, I’ll do hardest part with you.”

Remus was waiting at the top, standing in the middle of the crystal floor, watching the ground crumble around them. He didn’t react as Roman walked towards him, but Roman was fairly sure he knew Roman was here anyways. “Remus-” Roman started to reach out a hand, then stopped. “Remus, please. We can talk this out.”

“I don’t want to play anymore.” Remus muttered.

“Remus, please-!” Roman smacked his fist into his forehead. “This isn't a  _ game anymore!” _

Remus suckered punched him. Roman stumbled back, caught off guard, and was hit a second time immediately after. This time he went flying near the edge of the platform, only for Remus to grab his arm and yank him over the edge, holding him there by his wrist.

“You know,” Remus began. Talking low, slowly. “I came here to take my anger out on a bunch of strangers-” the cracks on his face spread just a little bit further. “But I think you’ll do just fine.”

Normally, Roman wouldn’t be worried about falling from anywhere- but right now, the ground below them was a bunch of broken, jagged rock and streams of magma-hot bioposion. He avoided looking down by keeping his eyes on his brother. “You know,” Roman began. “I think Thomas had the right idea.”

“Pffft.” Remus rolled his eyes. “Which is?”

“Changing it worth it.” Roman explained. Then he shapeshifted into a bird.

They used to change shape all the time for their Diamond. Into other characters, other Gems. He wondered if that was what gave Purple Diamond the idea. 

He flew over over Remus’s head, grabbing an attempt to snatch him out of the air, and changed back on the other side. Even as he was landing, he went for his Gem Weapons. Shield and sword in hand- his, not the oversized Rejuvenators they’d been using before, Roman spun back ‘round to face Remus. He already had his morning star out. Roman wondered if Thomas knew about the times his father had made them fight ‘til one of them dissipated. About the times he fought them himself.

“I can make a promise.” Roman began to sing, as the two of them began to circle each other. “I can make a plan. I can make a difference-” Remus must have seen an opening, springing from his side of the Injector to bring his mace down on Roman’s shield. A distraction, as it turned out, so that he could kick Roman in the chest and send him back.

Roman rolled with the blow and sprung back onto his feet. “I can take a stand. I can make an effort,” he had his sword prepared in his other hand, but hopefully he wouldn’t need to use it. “If only I can understand, that I-” Remus growled and leapt at him again, holding his mace out and spinning like a top. Roman met the blow with his shield, holding it back. “I can make a  _ change.” _

Roman lifted his shield with all the force he could get behind it, catching the underside of Remus’s weapon and sending the other Spinel flying heels over head backwards. Rather than hitting the ground, Remus pushed into it, using it to spring back up and at Roman. This time he didn’t use any strategy- he just started slamming his weapon against Roman’s shield as hard as he could, screaming.

“I want to reach out,” Roman continued, bracing himself against the blows. “Tell you everything is fine.” he swept his leg out, catch Remus off guard and sending him sprawling onto his back. “But those are just my words- that attitude it mine.”

Attempting to pin down either of them was pointless, seeing as how they could move any which way they desired. Instead Roman moved back to prevent Remus from kicking him while he was down. While getting up Remus growled to himself, smashing his weapon into the crystal underneath him and cracking the surface.

“You want to cling to it hard, maintain the status quo-” rather than waiting for Remus to come to him, Roman shot forward, bringing his shield back and smacking Remus across the face, sending him back once more. Roman flinched. He’d never been as ruthless at Remus. “But you’re in so much pain, you don’t have to be though.”

Roman tossed his sword aside and held his hand out to Remus, palm up. “It’s not too late, you are worth more.” he promised. “Want something better, you’re gonna have to work for it.” Remus stood, facing him, but didn’t move. Roman took a step closer. “You’ll have to make a change.”

Remus growled, sinking in on himself, right before smashing himself over the head with his own mace and  _ screaming _ . Roman pulled pack, raising his shield back in front of him just in time to catch the full force of Remus slamming into him. 

“You can make it different.” Roman promised, ducking under a swing. “You can make it right!”

“You can make it better,” he continued, jumping to the side as Remus brought the weapon straight back down. “We don’t have to fight!”

He highly doubt Remus really heard that bit. That, or he just didn’t care.

“You can make an effort-” Roman lashed out with his free hand, grabbing the handle of Remus’s weapon and trying to yank it from him. Instead, Remus clung to it like a lifeline, sending the two of them spinning around each other. “Starting with tonight-” Roman smashed his shield into Remus’s face again, managing to nab the weapon away. He tossed it over the edge. Remus could easily  _ make _ another one anyways. “Cause you-”

He tossed his own shield over the edge. “You can make a change.”

“No, no, no, NO!” Remus was back away from him, shaking his head. “You can’t just- you can’t change the way I feel!” Lacking his weapon this time, Remus smacked himself atop the head. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s not that simple to deal with with with-” He glared at Roman with a sudden clarity he hadn’t known Remus had in this fight. “All this pain kills me it kills me I’ll kill you I’LL KILL YOU!”

Remus’s arms shot forward, grabbing the Roman’s sides and trapping his arms. Apparently inspired by their earlier dance, Remus began to spin, yanking Roman with him and building momentum. “Easy for you to say,” Remus snapped. “When you change it’s like some big heroic verse-” Even spinning as they were, Roman could see tears falling from Remus’s eyes, pulled away by the momentum. “But clearly when I change, I change for the  _ worse!” _

He let go, chucking Roman straight up and into the air. A moment later he wound his body up into a spring following after him. He didn’t bother to summon his weapon yet, however, and Roman saw the opportunity to keep going.

“You could make it different-” Remon promised.

“No, no, no!” Remus shook his head.

“You can make right!” Roman promised.

“You can’t change the way I feel!” Remus snapped.

_ “YOU _ can make it better.” Roman promised, emphasizing the ‘you’ in his sentence.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Remus muttered.

We don’t have to fight!” Roman promised.

It’s not that simple to deal with, with with-” Remus continued- they were reaching the apex of their jump, and it was now that Remus finally summoned another Gem Weapon. He raised the weapon above his head, scowling. “All this pain kills me it  _ kills me I’ll kill you I’ll KILL YOU-” _

Remus’s morning star got really big. Roman realized what Remus’s plan was.

“On no.” muttered Roman.

“You can’t just make everything better by singing some  _ stupid _ song!” Remus screaming at him, pulling his weapon back further before bringing it round to slam into Roman, flinging him back towards the injectore. A moment later, he collided.

There was a crater where he landed, and his vision was swimming. He was just barely holding his physical form together at this point, thank the stars Spinel’s were so durable. Especially ones custom made for a Diamond. He summoned his shield, holding his shield up in a blind panic to avoid another hit, and was immediately glad he did so when something slammed against his shield.

Through the transparent crest design of his shield, he could just barely make out Remus’s form standing above him, ready to strike again. Roman took a deep breath, blinked, steadied himself, and kept going.

“You can make an effort.” Roman was all but whispering at this point, as Remus slammed into his shield and tried to break through it, too where Roman was curled up on the ground. “Starting with tonight-”

Starting with tonight-” Remus growled.

“Cause you-” Roman pleaded.

“I’ll kill you-” Remus growled.

“Cause you-” Roman repeated.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Remus screamed.

“Cause you, you can still make a change.” Roman finished.

“SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!” Remus screamed at him, kicking at Roman’s shield. “I’m just not good enough to change, not good enough for Purple, and now-” Remus chucked his weapon aside, raising his fists and slamming them into Roman’s shield. The crater under him continued to crack. “I’m not GOOD AT  _ ALL!” _

Remus started to giggle, leaning against Roman’s shield as he fell to his knees. Roman… wasn’t actually sure if he was laughing or crying. “Tha- That’s funny, right?” Remus asked, his voice cracking. Breaking down. “At least you found me entertaining…”

Remus curled in on himself, face in his hands, rocking back and forth. When he looked up, there were tears streaming down his face. “You… you did like me, didn’t you?” he asked, sounding so  _ sad, _ and so  _ small, _ and so  _ weak. _ Remus’s eyes dropped to his hands, then the crater under them. “What… what am I doing? Why do I wanna  _ hurt _ you so bad? I- I’m supposed to be a friend- I just wanna be  _ a friend…” _

Roman let his shield dissipate. Remus shrunk back as if Roman would attack him. 

“Remus-” Roman began, holding out his hand- only for the Crystal under them to suddenly light up and shutter. 

“Oh no.” muttered Remus.

The Injector exploded. 

♢♢♢♢

Roman woke back up in a massive crater, left behind by the ships explosion. 

Instinctively, his hand shot towards his gem. Not a scratch. He blinked, looked up, and found Thomas standing right in front of him. 

Ah.

“Welcome back.” Thomas held out a hand. “All good? No cracks or anything?”

“I-” Roman trailed off. He blinked, lowering his hand and reaching out to take Thomas’s once he realized the half-Gem wasn't just gesturing. “All fine, I think. Good as new. Uh- thank you.”

“Thank  _ you.” _ Thomas insisted. He held Roman’s hand in one of his own, then placed his other hand on top of it. “I’m glad you helped when you did- I don’t… think I would have gotten my powers back when I did without you. And we really needed your help- just, thank you for everything.”

“But- uh,” Roman looked down. “What about your planet? The bioposion? We’ve ruined  _ everything.” _

“Not… exactly.” Thomas let go and stepped back, gesturing towards a perfectly circular patch of green grass and flowers. “See, you said this injector belonged to my dad, so I called the other Diamonds and asked them about it.” Roman flinched, but Thomas didn’t seem to notice. “Apparently you’re supposed to use Injectors over the course of a century,  _ at least, _ to let the poison sink in.” Oh. “Because you guys used it so fast, all the stuff on the surface right here. Given some time, I’ll be able to heal it away by myself. Even if I didn’t, the planets gonna be just fine.”

“But- what about the crater? The fissures in the town?” Roman asked. “You can’t just- kiss  _ those _ better.”

Thomas shrugged. “We’ll build bridges.”

“Oh.” muttered Roman.

“Trust me,” Thomas reached out to place and hand on Roman’s shoulder- than pulled back and patted his chest instead, right next to his gem. “Everything’s gonna be just fine. But first, there’s someone else who really needs you right now.” 

Thomas stepped to the side, revealing Remus standing further into the crater, back to them. Roman didn’t need to hear anymore than that.

He approached Remus slowly, casualty. Not because he was worried that Remus would  _ hurt _ him or anything, he was just… scared, okay? Nervous. Remus had taken everything so much harder than Roman, and in so many teeny, tiny little ways… he couldn’t fully relate. Roman had gotten the easy end of the stick.

“Hey, Remus.” Roman spoke up, which didn’t get much of a reaction. “Um- So, apparently, the Earth’s gonna be fine. Thomas can fix it right up!” He tried to smile and give a sweeping thumbs up, but even without Remus looking at him it felt fake. He dropped it. “So um- Remus,  _ please say something!” _

“What do I say  _ now?” _ Remus asked, voice horse. “Why are you even  _ talking _ to me?” He spun around, facing Roman and crossing his arms. It was obvious he’d been crying. “I- I tried to  _ hurt _ you- I  _ wanted _ to hurt you, so  _ bad- _ I wanted to  _ shatter- _ you shouldn’t- you can’t just-!”

“Can’t what?” Roman asked, stepping coser. “Forgive you? I already have. You’re not the worst one to hurt me, and I forgave Him too.”

Remus looked at Roman quietly for a few moments, before finally speaking. “You just want me cause I’m all that you’ve got left of His, aren't you?”

“No-” Roman was surprised that was what Remus was thinking. “You’re my brother. Is… that the only reason you like me?”

“N-no, well… I mean,” Remus shook his head. “It’s just- we had some good times together. Simpler times. I… kinda like remembering those times. With you. I don’t just wanna… forget.” he explained. His hand twitched, like he wanted to hold Roman’s again, but made no move to ask for it.

“Well… let’s remember then.” Roman said. He heard shuffling further back, glancing over his shoulder to see the rest of the Crystal Gems joining Thomas in the crater. “There’s the others- wanna go over and talk to them?”

“What do I say?” Remus asked, shrinking further into himself.

“How about we start with an apology?” Roman suggested.

Remus glanced over at the others, his gaze lingering- and finally he nodded, beginning to walk over with his arms still wrapped around himself. Roman followed after, moving next to Remus and matching his steps. The others had been chatting- but they went quiet as they realized the two Spinels were joining them.

“Huh… hey.” Roman said, raising a hand in a kinda-but sorta-not-wave. “We um, look, I know this isn't gonna change much about what happened- but em-”

“We’re sorry.” Remus blurted out

_ “Really _ sorry.” Roman blurted out.

“We got carried away-” Remus added.

“Super our bad, by the way-” Roman continued.

“We really shouldn’t have lashed out like that-” Remus rushed out.

“We  _ really _ weren't thinking clearly.” Roman finished.

Both the Spinels proceeded to immediately stop talking.

For a moment, the two groups just looked at each other, before Virgil leaned over to Thomas and muttered, “You know what- I think they’ll do just fine.”

“Do what?” Roman asked.

“Well,” Patton clapped his hands together, grinning brightly. “We’ve got this extra room in the Mind Palace-”

“The where now?” Remus asked.

“It’s the name for the temple behind Thomas’s house.” Logan explained. “Perfect for moving in.”

“Move what where now?” Roman asked.

The Crystal Gems shared a knowing look, nodded, and began to sing to the two Spinels.

“Come live with us in the palace~” they harmonized together, gesturing up the slope of the crater towards the temple. “There’s a room waiting for you~”

“Come on~” Patton sung.

“Come on~” Logan said, but it sounded good with the other two.

“Come on~” Virgil sung.

“Let us adore you~” they sung together.

Roman glanced at Remus as they repeated the verse (offering their hands this time). Currently, Remus looked close to being really overwhelmed right now…

“If you want too, of course.” Thomas offered. “We won’t make you do anything. But, if you think you can handle us, I think we’d get along great. Trust me.”

Roman stepped in front of Remus. 

“Today, right here right now,” Roman began to sing, softly, holding out his hands to Remus. “We’ll love again. We’ve already found someone.”

“Just let us adore you~” the Crystal Gems joined in.

“Today, right here, right now,” Remus began, voice shaking, but slowly going more confident as he took Roman’s hand. “We’ll love again. I’ve already found someone…”

“Come live with us in the palace,” the other continued, as Roman led his brother back towards them. “There’s a room waiting for you-”

“Come on~” Virgil sung.

“Come on~” Patton sung.

“Come on~” Logan said.

“Today, right here, right now,” Roman sung.    
“We’ll love again.” Remus sung.

“You’ve already found someone.” Thomas sung, watching the group as he rolled up his sleeves and got ready to do some smoochin’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I'm selfish and want my famILY together. So, Roman and Remus stay to make up for what they've done and grow something new. On Earth, nothing ever stays the same forever, after all.  
> Honestly Remus is really ooc in this au but I really love him.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes. I absolutely turned Lion into a pride flag. Also, I can't tell you how much I wanted to start this fic off at Other Friends (I'm so excited!).  
> Also, Virgil was almost the fusion (two anxious kids in a trench coat) but alas, Patton is made of love.


End file.
